General description.

This small bird, superficially resembling a thrush and associated with water, is actually a warbler. The "Northern Waterthrush" can be identified further by its narrow, yellowish-white eyebrow. It walks rather than hops.

Breeding habits.

The "Northern Waterthrush" breeds in any wooded habitat from Alaska and much of Canada south to the northern United States.

Calls or song.

Population and distribution.

The "Northern Waterthrush" spends most of its time in wooded swamps and bogs and on the banks of lakes and rivers. Here they forage mainly on the ground and wade into shallow pools feeding on insects, spiders and snails. Altered habitat is affecting the Waterthrush. Leveling of hemlock and tamarack has made their breeding grounds unsuitable for nesting. This species is among the first to move south during the fall migration, ending up as far away as Venezuela.

Nesting habits.

The female "Northern Waterthrush" lays four or five creamy-white eggs with brown blotches in a nest of moss set in a bank at the base of a tree trunk.